Artwork
Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a Lady is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Francesco Salviati. It dates from 1555 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Francesco Salviati's 1555 oil painting, Portrait of a Lady, depicts an unidentified woman as its sole main subject.
Francesco Salviati's 1555 oil painting, Portrait of a Lady, depicts an unidentified woman as its sole main subject. The work functions as a formal portrait, focusing entirely on the female figure without additional narrative scenes or complex allegorical figures explicitly detailed in the available records. While the title identifies the sitter generically as a lady, the provided sources do not specify her individual identity, nor do they describe specific iconographic attributes, symbolic objects, or a deeper representational meaning beyond her status as a portrayed woman.
The composition centers on the subject's presence, consistent with the genre of portraiture, but the historical sources cited do not elaborate on the specific symbolism or the intended message the work conveys regarding the sitter's character or social standing.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1555, this portrait by Francesco Salviati utilizes oil paint as its primary medium. There is a discrepancy regarding the support material among available records: internal corpus data identifies the work as oil on panel, whereas external cataloging describes the material as oil on canvas. The painting measures 67 by 52 units.
As a formal portrait, the composition focuses on a single female subject. The work is currently held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having entered the institution as a gift in 1952. No specific details regarding the artist's brushwork, surface condition, or distinct stylistic handling are provided in the current documentation.
History & Provenance
Francesco Salviati painted 'Portrait of a Lady' in 1555. The work is executed in oil on panel. The painting was owned by Samuel L. Fuller (1875–1963) of New York before he gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1952. The work remains in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The Portrait of a Lady is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It entered the collection in 1952 as a gift from Samuel L. Fuller (1875–1963) of New York. The sources do not record a specific inventory or accession number, nor do they document any exhibition history.
Overview
Created by the Italian Mannerist painter Francesco Salviati around 1555, Portrait of a Lady is an oil-on-panel painting. This work exemplifies the artist's skill in portraiture during the mid-16th century. It features a woman presented in a formal pose, characteristic of the period's emphasis on depicting individuals of standing.
Context
Francesco Salviati, also known as Francesco de' Rossi, was a prominent Italian Mannerist artist whose career spanned several major cultural centers, including Florence, Bologna, Venice, and Rome. While he was renowned for large-scale history paintings, portraiture formed a significant part of his output. This particular work aligns with the style and subject matter typical of his production during the mid-16th century.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Francesco Salviati or Francesco de' Rossi (1510 – 11 November 1563) was an Italian Mannerist painter who lived and worked in Florence, with periods in Bologna and Venice, ending with a long period in Rome, where he died.
